leadership Archives - The Grassy Road

The critical difference between Governance and Management when you are on a board

This question comes up a lot when teaching wannabe directors. And it comes up with employees who are under the mistaken belief that their board actually manages the company. So let me demystify it now. We don't manage. At all. The critical difference is that the board is in place to provide oversight, not to make decisions. Oversight to ensure shareholders are well served. Oversight to ensure the law is followed. That, over time, the decisions the leadership team makes are good ones. Oversight to ensure the company is not [...]

By Penny Herscher|2021-01-28T10:05:38-08:00January 27, 2021|Boards|Comments Off

How boards must change

“The full weight of responsibility for change rests with those who control the institutions” – White Fragility:Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about Racism by Robin DiAngelo Our institutions in the US are led predominantly by men. Women would simply not have the rights we cherish today, such as the right to vote, if the majority of men in power had not supported them. Companies have been paying attention to gender diversity among employees for some years now. It’s been talked about at length but it was not until California [...]

By Penny Herscher|2020-06-16T17:45:50-07:00June 16, 2020|Boards|Comments Off

Management screws up – what do you do?

Something is wrong and management has messed up again, how do you react? One of the ways people react and hurt themselves in the process is by being immediately negative. Cynically: “well this is just the norm for this effed-up company” or “yet again we are going to screw our customers”. Maybe with resignation: “I’ll have to work more hours now to correct their mistakes”. Maybe as a victim: “I have no power and I can’t take the risk of saying anything”. Maybe on the attack: "We need to get [...]

By Penny Herscher|2019-01-04T10:01:56-08:00May 1, 2018|Career Advice|Comments Off

Winning as a CEO takes courage – does your CEO have it?

It takes courage to be a great CEO and yet our world is populated with mediocre ones so how do you assess a company CEO before you chose to join his company, or whether you have the mettle to be one yourself? The evidence is there if you know where to look. It’s not just about a CEO who can give a rallying speech (although it’s fun to watch a CEO like Marc Benioff do it). It’s not just about a brilliant technical founder CEO who can talk product and [...]

By Penny Herscher|2019-01-04T10:02:33-08:00April 24, 2018|Leadership|Comments Off

Why being kind as a leader trumps yelling every time

Are you conscious of how you react as a leader when someone makes you angry? With an attack or with kindness? I once worked with a head of sales who, when things were not going his way, would curse out anyone not on his team who he thought didn’t appreciate how hard his job was. Unkind, unnecessary accusations of incompetence or intentionally obstructing sales. Engineering, customer success, marketing - you name it - they all got yelled at instead of constructively engaged. But unpredictably so everyone walked on egg shells [...]

By Penny Herscher|2019-01-04T10:03:43-08:00February 10, 2018|Career Advice|Comments Off

When to apologize and when not to

I recently got a question in email from a woman (who is early in her career) which I answered, but then as a few weeks passed, I began to think about all the times I wish my coworkers had apologized and when they did it too much. The question was: "Should I apologize when I make a mistake at work, and if so, how? If not, what should I do instead? I notice I am apologizing for mistakes that are mostly my responsibility, but not only, and that nobody else [...]

By Penny Herscher|2019-01-04T10:06:09-08:00November 21, 2017|Career Advice|0 Comments

The importance of being humble

Photo: At the Jordan river where Christ was baptized and Israeli and Jordanian soldiers watch each other, guns cocked We’ve all met this person in our professional lives. Smart but self-absorbed, in love with their own success so far, or with the self-importance of their title, or the size of their business, or how attractive they are. Executives who are so used to everyone catering to their every need that they forget to be courteous. VCs who are so used to entrepreneurs beating down their doors they forget to be kind (or [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-07T10:33:34-08:00July 16, 2017|Leadership|1 Comment

Startups and adrenaline are a potent mix

Fred Wilson's post a few days ago "Starting is Easy, Finishing is Hard" speaks to the grind going on for many tech startups today. He says the easy exit days feel as if they have gone and for many it is taking raw tenacity to finish. And he's right. When you are the CEO or in the founding team of a startup the years are long. It feels as if it will take forever to get to the next stage of product, or growth, or market development. But the days [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-09T19:51:05-08:00April 26, 2017|Leadership|0 Comments

Why you need a CEO on your board when you are the CEO

One of the first decisions an entrepreneur needs to make once she has raised money for her great new idea is to build a board. This is a conscious act. Yes, your investors probably have board seats, at least the lead investor will. If your investors are angels maybe 2 or 3 of them have demanded to be on your board. But beyond this crew you owe it to yourself to step back and think about who do you want on your board to help you build your company. It [...]

By Penny Herscher|2020-01-09T11:24:55-08:00July 20, 2016|Boards, Leadership|0 Comments

SPLX IPO 15 Years Later

15 years is a milestone I think. Short enough that I still remember, long enough that is seems far in the past.We took Simplex public 15 years ago today. May 3, 2001. It was the culmination of a wild ride, and the beginning of another. Going public is a rite of passage. It's not a birth (founding a company), it's not a marriage (M&A), it's not a death (shutting down) so maybe it's like a bar mitzvah or confirmation - a rite of passage into adulthood. You take a company [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-13T06:28:00-08:00May 3, 2016|Leadership, My Personal Journey|1 Comment